OpenHydro, Emera Launch New Tidal Joint Venture

Tidal technology group, OpenHydro, a DCNS company, and its Canadian partner Emera Inc. have formally launched a new joint venture business, called Cape Sharp Tidal. The announcement was made at the fifth International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE), which is taking place 4-6^th November in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The objective of Cape Sharp Tidal is to deploy a fully grid connected 4MW tidal array in the Bay of Fundy in 2015. This project has the potential to be one of the world’s first multi-megawatt arrays of interconnected tidal turbines, providing energy to over 1,000 customers in Nova Scotia. Cape Sharp Tidal employs a local team of ten people based in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

Thierry Kalanquin, Chairman of OpenHydro and Senior Vice President of Energies & Marine Infrastructure at DCNS, said: “Cape Sharp Tidal has the potential in 2015 to deliver one of the first, multi MW, multi turbine tidal arrays in the world.”

Chris Huskilson, President and CEO of Emera said: “We learned a lot from our inaugural tidal deployment in the Bay of Fundy back in 2009, and we’re looking forward to taking this next step. The incredible force of the Bay of Fundy gives us the potential to build a tidal industry here in Nova Scotia, and to take Nova Scotia experience and knowledge around the globe.”

The turbines being deployed in the Bay of Fundy are the latest evolution of OpenHydro’s 16m, 2MW Open-Centre Turbines. They will be built locally in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in partnership with Irving Shipbuilding. “Cape Sharp Tidal is committed to delivering a project in Nova Scotia, with Nova Scotian partners working together to create a tidal industry in the region,” said Jeremy Poste, Country Manager of OpenHydro Technology Canada.

Kevin McCoy, Irving Shipbuilding President, said: “We are now in the preparation stage, working closely with OpenHydro to firm up the plans for fabrication and mobilization. We hope to be able to announce these shortly.”

The Cape Sharp Tidal partners, OpenHydro and Emera, have ambitious future plans for tidal energy in Nova Scotia. The project will move forward in phases, subject to required approvals, with the ultimate goal of developing up to a 300MW commercial tidal array delivering clean, renewable energy to over 75,000 customers and leveraging that experience to create an industry.

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Press release; Image: OpenHydro